


Grateful

by unlmtdsky



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Feelings, Fluff, Huerta, Humor, It's the thought that counts, Mass Effect 3, POV Kaidan Alenko, Thanksgiving, Trying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27749821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unlmtdsky/pseuds/unlmtdsky
Summary: Shepard surprises Kaidan in the hospital on American Thanksgiving.
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko/Female Shepard
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Grateful

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: A day late, but I got this little bug of an idea and didn't want to wait a whole year for it to be relevant again.

“Are you surprised?” Shepard asked from where she was sitting backwards on a chair she had slid over so she could sit next to his hospital bed. She had told him she was smuggling him a surprise into Huerta, but he hadn’t quite expected… this.

“Y-Yeah, very surprised. …Thank you,” Kaidan replied. He tried to sound more pleased than confused, but the way Shepard’s face fell a little told him he hadn’t quite succeeded.

“Did I not get it right?” she asked tentatively. Shepard had such a look of eagerness and hope on her face that he knew he needed to pick his words carefully so as not to risk disappointing her. And he’d do whatever he could not to disappoint this woman ever again.

“Well…” He paused, then looked back at the low, rectangular box on his lap. She had brought him food, a meal consisting of individual containers with labels on each of the lids. The largest was labeled ‘turkey,’ and truthfully it smelled amazing. There were four smaller round cups labeled as ‘mashed potatoes,’ ‘green beans,’ ‘stuffing,’ and something called ‘candied yams.’ A final container, unusual given its triangular shape, read ‘pumpkin.’ A set of disposable cutlery and a paper napkin were tucked in the edge of the box. “This appears to be a delicious Thanksgiving dinner?”

A grin lit up Shepard’s face. God, he loved it when she smiled like that. “Yeah! The last time I was here doing some shopping in the Commons, I overheard some Alliance marines talking about missing out on celebrating Thanksgiving with their families. I’d heard of Thanksgiving before, of course, but we didn’t really celebrate Earth holidays on Mindoir.”

“Uh huh,” he said absently, thinking. He’d been in the hospital for a while now and his brain _had_ been a bit rattled, but he at least knew what day it was. He wasn’t _that_ out of it. “Shepard, I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but—” He raised his gaze from the meal she’d brought him to look into her beautiful emerald eyes. “You know today’s not Thanksgiving, right?”

Shepard’s brow furrowed in confusion. “I’m sure I have it right. I looked it up on the extranet. ‘Thanksgiving is a popular holiday celebrated by North Americans on the fourth Thursday of November.’” She seemed to be reciting from memory. “And that’s today.”

Something clicked in Kaidan’s brain. “Wait—did it say North Americans or Americans?”

She thought for a moment. “Shit—you’re right. It… might have just said Americans. Oh no, do Canadians not celebrate Thanksgiving?”

Kaidan let out a chuckle, then ran his hand through his hair. “No, we do, just… in October. And we celebrate, I guess, but it’s not really a big deal for us like it is in America. I knew they celebrated, too, but I honestly didn’t even know when they did.”

Shepard groaned and covered her face with her hands. When she pulled them away, her cheeks were slightly pink. She was clearly embarrassed by the mix-up. “I just know you hadn’t heard from your family yet, and, well, I wanted to do something nice for you. To remind you… to remind you of home.” Now in addition to looking embarrassed, she looked unsure of how he would react to her motivations behind the surprise. “I’m sorry. I messed up.”

“No, don't be sorry. It’s fine, Shepard. _Jane_.” Kaidan reached his hand out and laid it on the blanket, palm up, hoping the invitation was clear. He watched her as she considered his outstretched hand, then she carefully placed her hand in his. “It was nice of you to think of me. I’m grateful.”

He smiled at her and squeezed her hand gently, hoping to convey in that brief gesture how much it really meant that she was thinking of him and that she was here. The surprise dinner was nice, but it was this, just the simple act of holding hands with her again, that he was really grateful for. His heart swelled even more when she squeezed his hand in return.

“Plus, you know how much I love a good meal—and this will be the best one I’ll have had in weeks. It doesn’t matter where you are, hospital food is hospital food,” he quipped.

“Oh, don’t I know it,” she agreed, withdrawing her hand from his and returning it to where it had been resting on the back of her chair. “Quick question before you tuck in there, Alenko.”

He raised an eyebrow at her and waited.

She pointed at one of the small containers on his lap. “What in the world are yams? And—follow up question—why would you want them candied?”

Kaidan laughed, reaching for the container of candied yams. “I’m not sure, exactly. I’ve never had them. Let’s find out.”


End file.
